Reacting to Banda’s attacks on him and others, Hichilema said
Zambia needed peace and development and not war.

He said Banda had more
than one country and that he should reserve Zambia for Zambians.

“He is
crossing too many lines by disrupting Zambians, he has more than one country so
tell him to go to Malawi and try war there,” he said.

Hichilema urged
Banda to go and make noise and stories in Malawi, saying the focus of Zambians
was development. He said Banda could not understand how to run a country under
the multiparty system because all he knew was the one party state.

“That
William and Rupiah Banda belong to UNIP, let him get back to Malawi and let’s
see if the President of that country Mbingu Wamutarika will tolerate him,” he
said.

Hichilema wondered what Banda meant when he said he would fight The
Post, opposition and others whom he accused of insulting President Banda until
he defeats them.

“This fight I don’t think he knows what he is talking
about,” he said. “Will he kill us? What will it help? It won’t help him at
all.”

Hichilema advised Banda to understand that Zambia was a democratic
society where violence was discouraged. On comments that he should tell the
Zambian people how Lima Bank got finished and how he bought the house he is
leaving in, Hichilema said records were there for all to see.

Hichilema
said Banda should not question how he bought his house which he lived in for
over 16 years because it never belonged to Lima Bank.And former finance
minister Ng’andu Magande said Banda was not showing any leadership in Lusaka
Province.

“Simple minds talk about people, ordinary minds about events
and great minds about the future and things that have not happened yet,” he
said.

Magande said Banda spent his time discussing others and it was up
to the readers to judge which group he belonged to. He said because Banda was
once deported, everybody he saw became an enemy. Magande advised Banda to
reflect on his deportation saying the people he was attacking were not party to
it.

And in a statement yesterday, MISA Zambia chairperson Henry Kabwe
stated that his institution was horrified at Banda’s statement.

“This statement is shocking because
of its harsh tone, which is tantamount to a declaration of ‘all out war’ against
The Post newspaper by Mr Banda. Further, it is an incitement to violence against
The Post newspaper and its staff,” he stated. “Perhaps Mr. Banda said this out
of ignorance of the law, and if that is the case, we appeal to his superiors in
the MMD, including President Rupiah Banda, to immediately check the excesses of
this senior cadre, who has a reputation of thuggish behaviour, dating back to
his days as Lusaka district governor, under the former ruling party, the United
National Independence Party (UNIP).”

Kabwe reminded
Banda that the days of UNIP-style vigilantism ended with the abolition of
one party rule in 1990. He added that such tactics were not acceptable in a
multiparty democracy like Zambia.

“In light of the above, we would like
to reiterate our appeal to the MMD leadership, including President Banda, to
please counsel Mr Banda and urge him to change his old fashioned ways, because
they are tarnishing the image of the country as an oasis of peace, political
tolerance and freedom of the press,” he stated.

Kabwe noted that failure
by the concerned people to bring Banda’s excesses to an immediate end would
amount to an endorsement of his extreme brand of politics, which brings to mind the horrors of
political oppression such as were witnessed under dictators Mobutu Sese Seko of
Zaire, Idi Amin of Uganda and Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany.